Powerful Pedro

November 18, 2024

Standing inside the Gilbert High School weight room in baggy sweatpants and an oversized brown Nike hoodie, 16-year-old junior Pedro Linhares doesn’t necessarily stand out amongst his peers. In fact, with so many kids in the room for class, you may not even see him as he mills about the space.

Standing 5-foot-4 and tipping the scales at maybe 130 pounds soaking wet, Pedro isn’t a big kid. He refers to himself as “genetically challenged” with a little chuckle. He’s always loved sports and he’s always wanted to compete, but his diminutive stature forced him to think outside the box and take a road less traveled than other teenagers.

And then Pedro takes off his sweatshirt. Hidden underneath is a fitted t-shirt, and instantly you understand that, yes, Pedro does stand out in the crowd, particularly in this room. In any weight room, really.

Are you ready to hear Pedro’s secret? It’s one not many people know, and it’s also one that everybody around the Gilbert community should know.

Pedro Linhares is an incredibly accomplished powerlifter. How accomplished? He’s a state champion. He’s a national champion. He’s a state and national record-holder. And in the six lifetime competitions he’s entered, Pedro has never been beaten.

You ready that correctly.

He’s. Never. Been. Beaten.

“Pedro is a testament to hard work and the right attitude truly paying off,” GHS physical education instructor and head wrestling coach Scott Auderer said. “He believes in himself and he’s such a good kid, so to see him have this type of success is really great.”

How does a kid from central Iowa get into powerlifting? It actually started at school when Pedro discovered that not only did he enjoy it, but he was pretty good at it. That led to a conversation with his dad and an eventual decision to enter the 2022 Iowa State Open.

“My dad just Googled powerlifting and found that meet,” Pedro said of his start in the sport. 

He smiles as he thinks back to the moment he dipped his foot into the competitive powerlifting pool because he realizes how far he’s come in just a few years.

“I went into that competition completely unprepared,” Pedro, who weighed maybe 100 pounds at his first competition, said. “I had to borrow equipment and clothes from other lifters because I didn’t know anything, and they almost (disqualified) me. But I did it and I liked it, and I actually hit some state records in that meet.”

That was the last time he felt like an outsider though, and over the next year he trained religiously — three times per week without fail — in his basement with equipment he purchased. And he continued to improve.

“I’ve always liked sports and the competitiveness, but the kids were just always bigger than I was,” Pedro said. “But with powerlifting, this is a sport that’s proportional. I can be good at it, and I can compete against kids my size.”

Pedro’s passion and dedication truly took off when he stepped into Nevada Barbell and met owner and coach George La Cava. They instantly connected and now work together almost daily.

“The consistency and the coaching are very, very helpful,” Pedro said. “I couldn’t have done all of this without my coach, and the support of my family has also meant so much. My mom and dad also didn’t know anything about powerlifting, but they’ve been so supportive.”

Before we go into this next part, here’s a quick powerlifting guide. At each tournament, athletes compete in three disciplines — squat, bench, and deadlift — and then there is also a total weight lifted component. Competitors get three attempts at each lift.

That’s a simplistic overview, of course, and there’s so much technique that goes into each lift. The hours of training that takes place for just a few seconds is a type of pressure that is hard for Pedro to describe.

Since that first Iowa State Open, Pedro has competed in Missouri, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and even traveled all the way to Louisiana to take part in the High School Nationals this past April.

In October, at the Powerlifting United (PLU) National Championships in St. Louis, Pedro put on a show. There’s really no other way to explain it.

Competing in the Junior (16-17) age group at 60 kilograms (132 pounds), he won four national titles and set four national records in the process. 

His squat record — 336.2 pounds.

His bench record — 214.9 pounds.

His deadlift record — 418.9 pounds.

And his total weight record — 970.0 pounds.

“I did really well,” Pedro said. “If I saw where I was now at that first meet I went to, I would be very surprised.”

This was nothing new for Pedro though. He’s set state and national records in age and weight divisions throughout his limited time in the sport. Whatever the challenge has been, he’s succeeded.

“This is something he truly wants,” Auderer said. “He has all of these state and national records … it’s just amazing.”

Pedro is just like any other athlete. He feeds off the success. Winning a national title and setting a national record, it only motivates him to try to do it again. And again. And again.

“That’s a big motivator,” Pedro said. “Maybe you were thinking of not going to the gym on a day, but you’ve got this name and this reputation to live up to. And you want to keep winning.”

But at the end of the day, what most motivates Pedro to stick to his disciplined routine is the fact that he loves the sport. And it’s something he sees himself doing as he continues to grow and mature. He’s already preparing for the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) High School Nationals that will take place in Appleton, Wisconsin, in March.

“I want to keep doing it for as long as I can,” he said. “I truly love it.”

And the sport clearly loves Pedro, too.